Christmas aka fanfic 7
by hollybridgetpeppermint
Summary: Rather pointless, now that I look back on it. This was my first attempt at some ArtemisHolly stuff that was not in one of the goofy scriptstyle slapsticktype fics. No mushy stuff.


The doorbell rang. Butler, wearing a fancier suit than normal, took a break from his duties as…well…a butler (not a bodyguard for once) to answer it. A small figure stood there, in a simple but pretty green hooded cape. Butler could see that the bottom of it was bunched out with a skirt, but he couldn't tell anything else about it.

"Hey, Holly," he greeted her, stepping aside. "Come on in, and merry Christmas."

"Hi, Butler," said Holly. "Merry Christmas to you too." She came in and lowered her hood. There was holly in her hair.

"Ah, I see you have your name in your hair."

"Yeah, well…"

"Why don't you give me your coat—er, thing?"

"That's okay. I want to keep it for a bit." She suddenly tripped and fell backwards. Just as she was about to hit the ground she felt him catch her.

"Thanks," she said, grinning. "Stupid high heels. I still have to get used to them."

"Well, maybe you should go down to the library," he suggested. "It's downstairs, and there's plenty of room to walk around."

"Okay," she told him, and wobbled downstairs. Butler smiled and went back to polishing the silver.

Holly arrived in the library—well, the library door to be precise. Once there, she stopped in her tracks.

"Wow," she breathed softly.

It was beautiful. There were garlands strung across the bookshelves, and holly nestled everywhere. Mistletoe was hung above her head. Noticing this, she quickly stepped away, then looked around cautiously to make sure no one had seen this silly move. There was a CD player on top of one of the bookshelves, and she moved toward this, pretending to be trying to hear better, even though there was nobody to see her. She didn't recognize the song, but she liked it, and began to sway to the music.

"Having fun?" asked a voice behind her, and she whirled around, a becoming flush creeping up her cheeks.

"I, er…"

"Well," said Artemis, who was also wearing a fancier suit than normal. "Were you?"

"Uh…sort of. I like that song, but…what is it?"

"It's called 'The Holly and the Ivy.' Kind of fitting, isn't it?" he said, smiling mischievously. Holly groaned and put her hand on her forehead.

"Mom!" she said.

Artemis looked confused. "What?"

Holly looked at him. "I have a younger sister named Ivy. I think my mom likes humans a little too much."

Artemis smiled wryly. "Thank you."

"No offense, but…naming us after a Christmas song?"

"I like the names. One of them in particular."

"Which one? Out of curiosity," she added quickly.

"Guess."

"Okay…Ivy? I always liked that one better."

"Wrong. Guess again."

"That's no fun," she protested. "It's too easy. There were only two to start with."

"Guess anyway."

"Holly."

"Right."

"No, really?" she said sarcastically.

"Really," he replied, looking at her with a straight face.

"Have you ever heard of anything called 'being sarcastic?'"

"Yes. Just because you are being sarcastic doesn't mean I have to."

"Whatever."

"Don't you want to take off your cape?" he asked, immensely curious as to the kind of dress that lay under. He could see a little bit of skirt poking out, but that was all.

"Not yet. I was saving it for when you saw me…oh," she said, slightly confused. "Okay." She undid the fastening at the neck, but still held it closed. "Close your eyes."

He did so, and she pulled the cape off. "Okay, open them."

He opened his eyes, and couldn't hold back a gasp. She was wearing a beautiful forest-green ball dress. It showed just a tiny bit of her shoulders and had poofy short sleeves that were only attached to the dress by a little bit.

"Wow, you look…" He trailed off.

"Thank you," she grinned.

"Wait, I wasn't finished yet. Let's try this again. Wow, you look…"

She waited. "Not going to say anything?"  
"Can't think of a word strong enough to describe how good you look."

"Thank you."

"That's better."

"But it's still the same response," she protested.

"Oh, well. Now I have a question for you."

"Fire away."

He grinned at her, executing his most formal bow. "May I have this dance, mademoiselle?"  
She grinned back. "Oui, certainement." She tried to curtsy, but lost her balance, and grabbed Artemis' arm for balance. "Oops, sorry. It' s not normal for me to wear high heels or curtsy; usually I'm too busy hunting down rogue fairies."

"You're wearing high heels?" he asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, why else would I be so clumsy?"

"I thought you were just naturally that way."

She punched him lightly in the arm. "Hey!"

He smiled at her. "Okay, fine, I was just kidding. But I seriously didn't notice you were wearing high heels."

She staggered back, clutching her cheeks in mock horror and amazement. "The great Artemis Fowl Junior, not notice something! How horrible! How terrible! How—aaah!" she yelled as she fell backwards. He put his hand on her back and caught her.

"Thanks," she told him sheepishly. "Now then…where were we?"

A bell rang in the distance. "Oh," said Artemis. "There's the bell for dinner." Holly started up the stairs. His hand on her arm stopped her. "What?" she said.

"May I escort the charming lady up to dinner?" he asked formally.

She smiled. "Okay." They linked arms, and went up the stairs to dinner, both smiling.


End file.
